Canadians Prefer Balanced Budget to More Spending
But support much of the
new spending in 2018
Toronto, March
1st – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum
Poll™ among 941 Canadian voters, almost two-thirds (61%) say that a balanced
budget is more important to them than more spending on programs and services,
while 4 in 10 (39%) say they prefer more spending on programs and services to a
balanced budget.
Respondents most likely to say they
support a balanced budget include those aged 35-44 (69%), males (70%), earning
$80,000-$100,000 (74%), living in Alberta (70%), and supporting the
Conservatives (88%).
Three-quarters (76%) of those that say
they are less likely to vote Liberal because of the budget say they support a
balanced budget.
Respondents most likely to say they
support more spending on programs and services include those aged 34 and
younger (48%), females (47%), the least wealthy (48%), with a
college/university (39%) or post-graduate (42%) degree, living in the Atlantic
(48%), the prairies (MB/SK)(47%) or BC (50%), and supporting the NDP (64%).
Almost three-quarters (71%) of those
that say they are more likely to vote Liberal because of the budget say the
support more spending on programs and services.
Almost three-quarters have seen some news of the budget
7 in 10 (TOP2: 70%)
say they have seen some news of the budget, with a quarter (27%) saying they’ve
seen a lot about the budget.
One-third (BTM2: 30%)
say they’ve heard little about the budget, with 1 in 10 (9%) saying they’ve
heard almost nothing.
The plurality
disapproves of the budget
4 in 10 (40%) say
they disapprove of the budget. One-third (31%) say they neither approve nor
disapprove of the budget, while one-sixth (17%) say they approve. About 1 in 10
say they do not know.
Respondents most
likely to say they disapprove include those aged 35-44 (49%), males (48%),
earning $40,000-$60,000 (48%) or $80,000-$100,000 (51%), living in Alberta
(52%), and supporting the Conservatives (70%).
Respondents most
likely to say they approve include those aged 55-64 (24%), the least wealthy
(25%), with a post-graduate degree (26%), living in Québec (19%), Ontario
(18%), or BC (20%), and supporting the Liberals (43%).
The plurality say they’re less likely to vote Liberal in the
next election
4 in 10 (44%) say
they’re less likely to vote Liberal in the next election, while about one-sixth
(14%) say they are more likely to vote Liberal. A quarter (28%) say the budget
will have no effect on their vote, while another sixth (14%) say they do not
know how the budget will effect their vote in the next election.
1 in 10 Liberals
(12%) say they are less likely to vote Liberal on account of the budget.
Just over one-third say the budget is bad for the economy
4 in 10 (38%) say
that the budget will be bad for the economy. One quarter (27%) said it won’t be
good or bad, while about one-sixth (15%) say it will be good for the economy.
One-fifth (20%) say they do not know if it will be bad or good.
4 in 10 approve of a national pharmacare plan
The plurality (TOP: 43%) say that they would support the
introduction of a national pharmacare plan, with a quarter (26%) saying they
strongly support such a plan.
One-quarter (BTM2: 25%) say they would oppose a national
pharmacare plan, with one-sixth (14%) saying they oppose strongly.
One-sixth (13%) say
they do not know.
Almost two-thirds support the budget’s conservation initiatives
6 in 10 (TOP2: 62%) say they support the government
investing $1.3 billion, over five years, in the conservation of land,
waterways, wildlife, and the protection of species at risk, with almost half of
all Canadians (45%) saying that they support strongly.
Fewer than
one-quarter (BTM2: 21%) say they oppose
this investment, with 1 in 10 (13%) saying they oppose strongly.
6 in 10 say they support the anti-addiction investments
Almost two-thirds (TOP2: 60%) say they support the government
investing more than $200 million, over five years, to fight opioid addiction in
Canada, with 4 in 10 (38%) saying they support strongly.
One-quarter (BTM2: 25%) say they oppose this investment, with
one-sixth (16%) saying they oppose strongly. Few (3%) say they do not know.
Two-thirds support free admission for kids to national parks
The government made
their free admission to national parks program permanent, and two-thirds (TOP2: 63%) say they support its permanency, with
almost half of all respondents (45%) saying they support strongly.Only
one-sixth (BTM2: 16%) say they oppose
this investment, with 1 in 10 (8%) saying they oppose strongly. Few (3%) say
they do not know.
7 in 10 support investment for drinking water on reserves
7 in 10 (TOP2: 69%)
say they support the $175 million investment into clean drinking water on First
Nations’ reserves, with more than half (53%) saying they support strongly.
One-sixth (BTM2: 16%) say they oppose this investment, with 1
in 10 (8%) saying they oppose strongly. Few (4%) say they do not know.
More than half approve of investments in science and technology
More than half of
Canadians (TOP2: 57%) say they approve of the $4 billion investment, over five
years, for more research and grants in science and technology, with one-third
(34%) saying they approve strongly.
One-quarter (BTM2: 23%) say they oppose this investment, with 1
in 10 (11%) saying they oppose strongly.
One quarter says the economy should have been the focus of the
budget
One-quarter (28%)
said the economy should have been the budget’s priority, while one-quarter
(22%) said it should have been healthcare. 1 in 10 (13%) said it should have
been education or the environment (10%).
1 in 10 (9%) said the
priority should have been infrastructure. Equality (5%) and other (6%) were the
least selected potential priorities.
1 in 10 (7%) said
they do not know what the priority should be.
Support for the Liberals declines
Only one-third (34%)
say they would support the Liberals if an election were held today, down 4
points since January (Jan 24: 38%) with almost half (46%) saying they would
support the Conservatives, similar to January (Jan 24: 43%)
The NDP (14%) remain
third with the Greens (3%) and BQ (2%) effectively unchanged. Few (1%) would
support another party.
If an election were
held today, we expect to see a Conservative majority of 213 seats. The Liberals
would serve as official opposition with 99, the NDP would secure 24, the Greens
would keep their 1, and the BQ would be reduced to 1.
“Budgets are a
difficult balancing act and can never please everyone, that’s a given,” said
Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research. “But the reaction to the 2018 budget
is a strong contradiction: in general, Canadians overwhelmingly say they prefer
a balanced budget over more spending, but ask about specific new spending from
the budget, and they’re strongly supportive, almost across the board. Overall,
the public’s reaction to the budget and to the Prime Minister’s visit to India may
be contributing to the Liberals’ overall erosion of support.”
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
